ED attaches Rs 147-cr assets of Chandigarh-based realty group in cheating case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 147 crore of a Chandigarh-based real estate group which is alleged to have duped many investors of crores of rupees by promising them flats and plots.

The attached properties include commercial spaces, residential houses, agriculture lands and bank accounts belonging to Gupta Builders and Promoters Pvt Ltd (GBPPL), its directors Satish Gupta, Pardeep Gupta and their associates Anupam Gupta and Navraj Mittal, the ED said in a statement.

The total worth of the attached assets is Rs 147.81 crore.

The directors of GBPPL, in “connivance” with other persons, siphoned off money collected from homebuyers, the statement said.

This money through web of “fraudulent” transactions was invested in various movable and immovable properties which are proceeds of crime and the same are provisionally attached, it said.

The probe found that an aggregate amount of Rs 478 crore was collected by the company from buyers and they (company and promoters) “duped” innocent buyers by promising them to deliver flats, plots, and commercial spaces, it said.  “However, they neither delivered the projects nor returned their money,” the ED said.

The money laundering case stems from FIRs filed by Chandigarh and Punjab Police against the accused.